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The Channel Tunnel (“Chunnel” or “Eurotunnel”) is one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken in the UK. Taking more than five years to complete, with more than 13,000 workers from England and France collaborating to realize the vision, the tunnel has been named one of the seven wonders of the modern world. According to Structurae, the cost of the Chunnel was French Franc 45,000,000,000. The tunnel is 31.4 miles. The two points it connects are Folkestone, Kent, in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, near Calais in northern France. The train flies along at 99 miles an hour. The first ideas for a “chunnel” were in 1802, but it was until 1988 that contstruction on the modern chunnel started and it wasn’t officially opened until 1994.

At 37.9 kilometres (23.5 mi), the tunnel has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world, although the Seikan Tunnel in Japan is both longer overall at 53.85 kilometres (33.46 mi) and deeper at 240 metres (790 ft) below sea level. –Wikipedia

Today thousands of passengers take the Chunnel every year. Happy 23rd birthday Chunnel!

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Historyonair.com is the online home of the History Podcast. You can find history related articles, video, and audio files here. You can contact the author of this blog and its content at historypodcast@gmail.com.